Christmas Ball
by optimisticrealist72
Summary: "It was then that he decided that by the end of the year, Harry would be his." Slash! LM/HP. For Xmas Challenge.


**Christmas Ball**

_Almost back on track!_

_**Epic Christmas Challenge: **Previous: Theodore/Blaise, Now: Harry/Lucius. **Please vote for the final pairing either on my profile or in a review, any Slash pairing accepted.**_

_**Warnings: **Slash! HP/LM, Harry's 17. Mentions of when he was 16, though they weren't together. Disregard books 6 and 7, and half of 5. Good!Draco. They're friends. Ron!Bashing. Good!Lucy Dead!Narcissa. Very small mention of Draco/Remus. Neglective!Dursleys_

_**Disclaimer: **I will own this when the penguins invade America, snatch up all the children to cook them in giant egg salad sandwiches, and then recruit the leopard seals to steal all the bunny rabbits for their stroganoff._

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><p>From first glance, Lucius Malfoy knew he had to have him. The feeling had taken him by surprise on the first day of summer.<p>

Draco had told him that he was bringing Harry Potter home with him this summer, since there was no longer the threat of the Dark Lord hanging over their heads. So honestly, he had been expected to see something similar to the bespectacled boy he had seen in Flourish and Blotts during their second year. But the person he saw… It wasn't a little boy anymore. He was a _man. _Harry was still slight, short for his age and obviously too skinny to be healthy. But he had a sort of lean muscle, probably built up from Quidditch and vanquishing Dark Lords. His ebony hair had grown down till it reached his chin. The length had tamed some of the mess, so it didn't stick straight up anymore. Emerald eyes sparkled behind his glasses and full lips were parted into a laugh when Lucius had first seen him. Harry seemed to set off a glow, and Lucius was instantly attracted.

It was then he decided that by the end of the year, Harry would be _his._

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><p>All summer long, Lucius had gotten to know Harry better. At first, it was cautious yet casual conversation over dinner, which soon morphed in the comfortable discussions in the library. Then Lucius tried to seduce him. It was subtle, of course. He knew Harry would come back for Christmas break, and he was planning to strike then. But his touches lingered longer, his eyes would drift, and words started to have double meanings. Lucius noticed as the weeks flew by that, when he'd enter a room, Harry would immediately glance up and then blush lightly, dusting pink over his tan cheeks. When he spoke, Harry hung off every word. And when he hugged Harry goodbye before he left for the stations, the teen seemed reluctant to let go.<p>

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><p>Harry sat off at the far table, swirling the wine in his glass disinterestedly. When Draco and Lucius had invited Harry over for Christmas break, he had jumped for a chance to get away from the school and his Gryffindor dorm, where Ron's glares and hexes were getting nastier and nastier, while Hermione would mutter insults as he passed in the hall. At the time, the reminder Draco had given him of the boring Christmas Ball hadn't stopped him from going, but he almost wished he had pretended to be sick today. As soon as the party had started, Draco have graced him with one dance before being dragged along to go dance with one of the many young, pureblood boys and girls who Lucius had invited, in hopes that his son would fall in love and he could finally stop worrying about having an heir. Harry had shared a few dances, but they weren't exactly fun. Now, he could swear his brain was melting from boredom. His only sense of entertainment was watching Lucius.<p>

Lucius Malfoy. When he had walked in the manor the first day of summer, he had expected to see the snooty, cruel man he had seen at the bookstore. But he was different, in a way. Softer. Nicer. He still stood tall with the arrogance only a Pureblood could maintain, but his commanding presence enthralled Harry. Long blond hair was tied back with a dark green ribbon and mercury eyes had slowly assessed him, before the strangest thing happened. He _smiled. _If Harry weren't friends with Draco, he would've sworn left and right that Malfoy's don't smile. Ever. But there he was, smiling warmly and inviting him into the manor. The smile made him seem happier, lighter, and younger. And Harry found he liked it.

Watching Lucius though, not only took a lot of patience, but also self-control. Lucius would twirl around the room with men and women alike, the poster child of pure elegance. He would smile graciously at guests and be almost mobbed by a group of woman who all seemed to think they would marry a Malfoy some day. It made Harry sick.

There was also the way he moved. The way Lucius danced would make a whole room stop and stare. It was graceful yet strong, beautiful yet dangerous. It was… sexy. Unbelievably, undeniably sexy. It took everything he had not to throw himself at him like all those other woman.

"You shouldn't brood, you know." Harry glanced up sharply at a grinning Draco, who quickly took the seat next to him. "What's the worst my father can do? Say he doesn't like you that way?" Harry scoffed.

"He could curse me, which I doubt is much fun." Draco just shrugged.  
>"Probably not. He's had lots of practice."<p>

"Not helping, Draco." Harry snapped, crossing his arms. Draco sighed and stood, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Scrounge up that Gryffindor courage and talk to him, Harry. I'm sure you'd be surprised with the results." Draco scowled. "Now, I believe I haven't danced with all the guests yet, so I have to go attend to that duty." He stalked away, grumbling to himself.

"Have fun!" Harry called after him, chuckling to himself. All Draco had to do was tell his dad about his little crush and he wouldn't be forced to dance with every available person in the room. Maybe Draco was the one that needed to borrow some Gryffindor courage… All in all, Harry didn't think Remus would be against the blonde's affections, and would probably return them as well.

That led him back to the problem at hand. Talking to Draco had been a sweet relief, but Harry knew his thoughts would eventually center back around the older Malfoy. Draco was right, he probably should just tell him how he felt. But did he really want to lose their friendship? If everything went pear shaped, he knew that he wouldn't be invited back to the manor. Ever. He didn't think Lucius was cruel enough to force Draco to stop talking to him, but it was a possibility if Harry managed to screw it up bad enough.  
>Then there was always the thought in the back of his head that he wasn't good enough. That he would never be good enough for such a dignified, influential man. Lucius was pure beauty personified. Harry was just… Harry. Bland and scrawny. At best, Lucius would return his affections for the course of a month, before realizing how boring and unattractive Harry was. He was broken and scarred, and who wanted damaged goods? The Dursley's had hammered it into his head at a young age: He was worthless. No one would ever love him. It was impossible. Harry didn't think he would be able to handle it if Lucius toyed with his emotions. Why set yourself up for pain? Draco was wrong. Nothing good would come from confessing to Lucius. He would be perfectly fine sitting in the sidelines.<p>

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><p>Draco stared at Harry as he twirled some Pureblood chit around the dance floor, tuning out her rambling. He knew from the dreary look on his friend's face that was steadily growing darker that he was convincing himself not to talk to Lucius. Draco swore then and there to take revenge on the Dursleys and drag his father along to help. But for now the damage was done and Draco had done all he could to convince Harry he was worth it. Now it has his father's turn to help him.<p>

When the dance came to an end he bowed appropriately at the girl before turning to find his dad. Spotting him, Draco quickly walked over to him, catching him before he could ask some other dignitary to dance. Soon another song had started and father and son were capturing the dance floor, causing many couples to stop and stare for a moment at the beauty of the two Malfoy's sharing a dance, both dignified and beautiful in their own way.

"You need to talk to Harry." Draco said rather abruptly, mind twirl. Lucius raised an eyebrow at his son.

"Why must I talk to Harry?" Draco sighed inwardly. Of course his father wouldn't blindly follow his advice, he was a Slytherin, after all.

"Look at him. He's positively drowning in self-loathing. No matter how many times I've told him to tell you how he feels, he always ends up like this within a half hour. Just finish your plan and talk to him." Draco hissed. Lucius's eyes drifted over to Harry, watching the boy. He didn't reply to Draco, showed no indication that he had heard his son, but Draco knew he had. The song came to an end and Draco stepped away.

"I'll go talk to him." Lucius murmured in his ear before walking over to the table that Harry was brooding at.

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><p>Lucius slinked over to the table and sat in the chair his son had abandoned only minutes before. Harry was still lost in thought, it seemed, as he didn't make any movement to show he noticed Lucius. He bit his lip in thought, soulful eyes filled with angst and self-hate.<p>

"Harry." Lucius said, jolting the younger out of his thoughts. Harry blinked rapidly and sat up straighter in his chair before his eyes found Lucius's and he leaned back in his chair again.

"You really need a bell or something, Lucius. You scared the hell out of me." Harry grumbled, pouting. Lucius chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Consider it revenge for all those times you've snuck up on me while I'm absorbed in my work." Before Harry could respond, Lucius was speaking again. "But I didn't come over here to talk. Would you care to dance, Mr. Potter?" Lucius stood and offered his arm to Harry, smirking at the baffled expression. A tentative hand reached up to grab his arm, and Lucius's smirk widened. As he tugged Harry to the dance floor, he could've sworn he heard his son chuckling at the scene.

Harry had obviously never learned how to dance, but that was fine with Lucius. It offered him a chance to teach him something, even if it's a simple as taming clumsy movements.

"Just follow my lead, Harry." He whispered in the smaller boy's ear, who in returned shivered as his voice seemed to wash over him. Next thing he knew, they were twirling just as the others. Lucius smirked at Harry's awed expression.

"Where'd you learn to dance?" Harry asked after a moment of spinning. Lucius just chuckled as if the answer was obvious. Which it probably was.

"I'm a Pureblood, I had to. Don't worry, you'll learn to lead over the Easter holidays." Lucius didn't give him the option to stay at Hogwarts for the Easter holidays, and, if he had his way, Harry would be coming back for the summer as well. He brought a joy and laughter into the house whenever he was there, and Lucius missed him when he was gone. Though he'd never admit it, he had counted down the days till he saw Harry again.

"That's one lesson I'm not sure I'm looking forward to." Harry groaned, remembering those disastrous dance lessons Professor McGonagall had given him. "I like following much better then leading." Lucius smiled and tugged Harry closer, as if to prove the point.  
>"No, you don't seem like a lead. But I won't be the only person you dance with, either."<p>

"But I only want to dance with you…" Lucius barely heard Harry's whisper and had a feeling he didn't want Lucius to hear it, but it filled him with soft warmth and he smiled down at Harry.

"I could say the same to you, Harry." Lucius had leaned down to whisper in his ear, and Harry gasped in shock, face rapidly heating up.

"No! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that. Please, I'm sorry!" Lucius sighed as Harry babbled on, driving himself into a panic. Of course, there was one way to ease his mind…

Lucius leaned down and captured Harry's lips. He felt the younger man still in his arms, but then their mouths started tentatively moving together. Neither noticed the crowd that had gathered around them, each wrapped up in each other. Lucius gently swiped his tongue across the Harry's lips, delving in when Harry gasped. Harry tasted of sweet wine and chocolate, and Lucius smiled into the kiss when Harry melted against him, moaning softly. Someone cleared their throat and they pulled away slowly, their eyes never leaving each other's.

"I love you, Harry." Lucius breathed. And, despite all his insecurities, Harry smiled back.

"I love you too."

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><p><em>Longer then I thought it would be! Wow… Rather proud of this piece, actually... <em>

_Review! Next: Sirius/Severus. That's going to be an interesting one… _


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